Category: Erasmus and study abroad

How I fell and how I got back up on my feet, my journey with mental health

By Olivia Chavigny de Lachevrotiere, BA International Business Management

Going to study at the university is an absolute experience. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had moments here that I could never forget.

but…

It might not always be as jolly as I had imagined. I thought these years would be the absolute happiest, I thought that I would meet friends for life and become successful irrespective of what I do with my time. I even though I might find a future husband while at the university! That was my vision, and my plan.

But I felt it already within the first couple of weeks. Moving away from my home country where my friends and family live – to the UK – turned out to have a greater impact on me than I thought. I refused to give up and did all I could to be out there and get the experience. I joined the A Cappella and Beatbox Society, became a committee member for my national society, enrolled on a language course. I also participated in many study workshops at 301, and the Entrepreneurship Skills Autumn programme.  I applied for the Study Abroad programme at an overseas partner university. I refused to lose the experience, with an intent to use the time I had to the maximum.

But even then, I felt lonelier than ever. Never being fully able to express myself, but most of all not being able to find friends that I would feel fully comfortable with. I couldn’t get close with anyone. Every exam session, I started either locking myself down in my room and crying through the evenings, or putting myself out in the library to be able to focus at all. I put on weight, ended up in a bad relationship where I felt suppressed. I felt like I always needed to impress people to be able to fit in, but it only caused me to persistently fail to open up.

I went on my Year Abroad to Amsterdam, met more people, I thought it went away…
And then I got aggressively crushed.
In winter, during my Year Abroad, I got depressed.

 

All of that happened during my “happiest” time, when I should be going out and party, and be all out there with people. But all I could do is stay in bed and sleep through the days, unable to fully focus, constantly catching colds and unable to accept myself, feeling hurt and alone. I felt like I was falling behind socially even more, seeing the new exchange students in my student accommodation in February, after the new semester started, spending time together, or at least knowing each other’s names! I didn’t know their names for months. I coped by binge eating sweets and watching TV shows, to escape my thoughts and get the sugar rush, and keep going. There and then, I knew it’s too much, and I reached out. Here’s what I did, and what ultimately helped me:

  • First, I reached out to the Student Psychologist at my university abroad, then to a private counselling centre (covered by my insurance). Slowly but steadily, I started getting up on my feet;
  • I studied, but allowed myself to let some pressure go, I allowed myself to be me in this foreign environment. I stopped chasing acceptance, but instead, I focused on the people that were there and the goals that I actually wanted to pursue;
  • I allowed myself for a slow summer without working, to recover and actually enjoy my time for a change!
  • As soon as I came back to Sheffield, I went to a doctor and asked for medical evidence for a disability (mental health), in order to receive help from the Disability and Dyslexia Support Service (DDSS). At DDSS, I got a Learning Support Plan written up by a staff member, based on my symptoms and needs;
  • I registered for a triage appointment with the Student Access to Mental Health Support (SAMHS), which eventually allowed me to access online counselling services with the Big White Wall Live Therapy,
  • I focused on physical exercise and eating healthy food – not necessarily limiting myself, but finding strength in overcoming physical limitations at the gym.

Now, it was a long and a very personal battle. It prevented me from having the desired by all “time of my life” while studying abroad, and experiencing the student life in full.

But it also taught me how to cope when I start feeling worse, and how to take care of myself in this fast-paced world. I’m better now, and I am on track to graduating soon with good grades.

Many people will have experienced symptoms of a common mental health disorder in their life. It’s good to know that if you feel this way, you’re not alone. And you should reach out, because there are means to help you. You deserve to be happy, and to enjoy your time at the university. I fought and won the battle, and I’m positive that you can too.

Cultural lessons from my year abroad

By Rhiannon Thefaut, BA International Business Management

I went to Rennes, France for my year abroad. In weather, it is the same as the south of England. However, everything else about it is very much French. As my University had people from over 100 countries and 50 languages, I didn’t just learn about the French culture, I got to learn about many other cultures. This will be some of the most interesting things I experienced and learnt whilst abroad. Hopefully, if you go abroad or work abroad in the future, some of these facts will be helpful for you or just make you laugh.

Firstly, the French have baguette machines. The French value their bread over all else, so for when boulangeries are shut on a Sunday or at 1am after a night out, you can still get your bread. You go to the supermarkets, and they will have a bakery in, constantly with fresh bread. Honestly, the bread is amazing – it tastes so much better than baguettes in England and you can get so many different types of bread, that you never even knew existed. So, if you don’t like bread, maybe don’t go to France!

Not just to mention their love for bread, they also definitely love their cheese. On my first night out in Rennes, we pre’d at one of the French guys homes and he provided us with a baguette and cheese board. I can’t eat cheese but I definitely enjoyed having the bread! To make it better, on a different night out, whilst walking home (French buses stop running at midnight so we had to walk home over an hour most days), we found a slab of camembert cheese on the floor!

I didn’t just learn about the French culture, I learnt about other cultures too. I learnt the super interesting fact that prawn crackers are not Chinese and if you ask a Chinese person about them, they won’t have a clue what they are. Also, Chinese food made my Chinese people is so much better than Chinese from a takeaway in England. My best friend would bring me food to my lecture and it was great.

Thai people are honestly so polite and friendly – they will literally do anything for you. They’re happy people and honestly some of the best friends you can have, as they are so caring and so willing to help you if you have a problem. My Thai friends are constantly messaging me, a year on, asking me how I am and offering me their home to stay at when I come visit. I love them and miss their kind personalities a lot.

German’s value being on time, so if you walk late into class, they will glare at you profusely – which is made worse by the fact there was only around 20 people in my class! The German’s are also a British person’s best friend – honestly, if you’re sarcastic, they’ll match that sarcasm with a stoic face and sarcastic banter back. It’s brilliant and made for some hilarious conversations. However, do be warned that some countries aren’t sarcastic, so you need to be aware of this and gage who it’s okay to be sarcastic with before you bring out the British humour.

If you can, do a year abroad – the cultural lessons and the memories you get are so worth it. I would give anything back to do another year abroad and I’m very jealous of all of you who are about to embark on yours.

My first semester at NTU Singapore

By Alice Lando, BA International Business Management

Having reached the end of the first semester of my exchange year at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, I have found myself looking back at the journey so far. If you intend to do an exchange, and I highly recommend it, you should know that there will definitely be ups and downs, it won’t be all about travelling and meeting new people. 

I was lucky enough to meet a group of friends from all around the world on my third day here that eventually stuck as a group till the end of the semester, when it came the time for very sad goodbyes as most of them were here for only one semester. With this group – we called it “No Spice” because everything in Asia is spicy and we had no tolerance for it – I discovered Singapore, travelled to Bali, went to Halloween at the Universal Studios and many more unforgettable experiences. We are still in touch and planning the next meetups. We even made a t-shirt and a book with all our names, details, fun facts and pictures 🙂 

Given the location of Singapore, there are plenty of opportunities to travel around South East Asia, so far I have been to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. 

In regards to my University experience, the Singaporean system comes with an intense workload and it puts students in competition with each other. I was able to keep up with the materials but I had moments where I felt the need to take a step back and focus on myself when the workload was becoming too overwhelming. Business classes are 3 or 4 hours long seminars, there is a lot of preparation work before class and assessments are more frequent compared to what I had in Sheffield in my first year. Moreover, all five modules I took in the first semester had group-project that counted for a major part of my final grade. It was a demanding first semester but I do have to say that the topics discussed were based on real-life situations and therefore overall very useful.  

I have just started the second semester but I already look back with nostalgia at all the beautiful memories I have made. I hope this second semester will be as great as the first one and I am looking forward to being back in Sheffield next September.

 

How to sort accommodation for after your year abroad

By Rhiannon Thefaut, BA International Business Management

In first year, my flat decided to live together in second year. However, I was going abroad for my second year and so couldn’t live with them. Instead, I agreed to live with them all in third year and assumed that was that. However, after some disagreements whilst I was away, this was no longer an option. I then had to rethink what I wanted to do.

I am originally from Chesterfield, which is an 11-minute train journey or a 30-minute drive from Sheffield. Therefore, one option for me was to move home and commute to University. Whilst this isn’t an option for everyone, depending how far Sheffield is from your family home, however, it may be something to consider. It’s likely in third year you’ll have less contact hours (and more study hours), so it is an option. Just note if you do commute, your maintenance loan will be significantly less – however, you won’t have the same living costs, so it evens out.

My second option was to live with 2 of my friends from first year. This is the option I took, as I decided that I wanted to have the live-in university experience in Sheffield again, as I enjoyed it so much in first year. However, the main issue for me was that, I had to trust my friends to sort the accommodation. We were on different time zones, and had different free time, meaning that I couldn’t even facetime them to see the places.

The third option is to live with strangers again; this is probably not the most popular idea, however, it can lead to making some really great new friends. There is the facebook page ‘Sheffield student accommodation’ and websites such as ‘Campusboard’ where you can find people who have spare rooms available for the following year.

The last option is to live on your own in a studio or 1 bedroom flat. Honestly, after my year abroad, I felt a strong sense of autonomy and responsibility. I was probably ready to live alone and that may be how some of you feel. A year abroad gives you so much freedom and builds your confidence, meaning that sometimes moving back and living with your friends isn’t the same. Your friends can still visit, but you don’t have the added stress of dealing with their mess or their noise – which is always nice!

My last piece of advice would be, make sure to decide what you want to do early on. As you probably remember from first year, students start deciding who they’re living with and where quite early (October onwards). You need to make sure you look too! It’s quite difficult when you can’t visit the place yourself, so, get them to do a skype call to show you it or get one of your friends to visit for you – it’s vital to make sure the place is legitimate and suits your needs.

 

My year abroad with a dairy allergy

By Rhiannon Thefaut, BA International Business Management

As someone who cannot eat dairy, going to France for my year abroad was probably not my best idea. For one, I spoke minimal French and was left using google translate to explain to the waiters that I needed pizza, sans fromage. Secondly, France has not yet progressed to including allergy information on their menus, let alone providing vegan options. And lastly, everything in France includes dairy products, from the classic croissants and French breads to meat, pizza – and even ‘les escargots! However, as I narrowly managed to avoid death by dairy last year, I’ve proved that it is possible. Here I will give you some top tips to effectively manage your allergy whilst abroad.

The first thing that helped me was stocking up and bringing lots of dairy free foods from home – luckily, you can get the ferry or the Eurotunnel to France and so I had quite a bit of room to bring everything necessary. I made sure to bring the basics – sauces, hot chocolate powder, butter etc and then packed the rest of the car to the brim with as many snacks as possible; chocolate, biscuits, crumpets and sweets. This was vital, because I couldn’t buy them from French supermarkets – and with 40 hours of lectures a week, stress eating was a common occurrence!

Secondly, look everywhere for small, family owned businesses – these are your best bet for finding speciality foods that cater to specific dietary requirements. One that I found in France, called Bio, sells vegan ‘pains au chocolat’ and croissants; finding these was amazing, especially when my friends had croissant mornings as it let me join in on the fun! Also ensure to look out for international chain businesses such as Starbucks Coffee. They will have dairy and gluten free alternatives, with less risk of contamination. 

Lastly, try to meet people from the country where you’re staying, as they can then explain to restaurant waiters and shop clerks about your dietary requirements. If you don’t know anyone, then make sure you’ve perfected how to explain it yourself in the language using simple phrases such as ‘sans fromage’ (French for ‘without cheese’).

Most European countries aren’t as accommodating towards veganism or allergies as England, unless you’re in a major city like Rome or Paris. But it’s definitely possible to cope with just an extra bit of effort in most places. I went to many different restaurants whilst on my year abroad and whilst I struggled in some places, in the end they want your money – so they’ll be as accommodating as possible. You got this!

Preparing for my year abroad

By Alice Lando, BA International Business Management

I have always been interested in exploring new cultures and expanding my horizons. This is one of the reasons why I chose Sheffield and the International Business Management programme, as it seemed like it would bring some great opportunities for me. Coming from Italy, I loved the idea of studying in England and overseas, and it taking three years instead of four.

Deciding the destination

Before starting my first year I wanted to go to Australia or Hong Kong, but thankfully the Global Opportunities team (who help students organise their year abroad) and the Management School insisted on making sure I had done my research before submitting my preferences. After hours spent on YouTube, university websites and chatting with people that had already done this experience, I changed my mind. When planning your year abroad it is fundamental that you choose destinations where you can really imagine yourself living for 10 months.

In the end, I knew I’d that my first choice would still be Hong Kong, but I decided I wasn’t so keen on Australia after all. Instead, my second choice was going to be Singapore.

Finding out the destination and getting excited

I will always remember the moment I found out that I was going to spend my second year at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. I had just finished an exam in January and received the email. Even better news, Elly, one of my closest friends, got allocated to the same university.  It was a great feeling to be able to get excited with someone else, and we both made sure that we gave everything that we had in every module during the second semester so that we would meet the grade requirement.

Despite the pressure of getting the grades I needed and the stress of completing the application for the host uni, I was literally counting the days till the departure. I was looking forward to living in a big and developed city, with a completely different culture and in a location that would allow me to travel all around Asia.

Getting ready

Moving was not so scary at first, as I had already moved to Sheffield from Italy, however as time passed I started to realise that the change would  probably be harder than the first one. In order to prepare, I watched lots of videos on YouTube about Singapore’s culture and lifestyle, and I talked to the Global Opportunities ambassadors for tips and information. I tried to open my mind as much as I could, setting no boundaries, expectations or limits.

Second thoughts

I have never had second thoughts about starting this new chapter of my life, however, thinking that I was not going to be in Sheffield for my second year made me much sadder than I expected. Despite the excitement of leaving for Singapore, I found it really hard to say bye to all my friends and volleyball teammates, but I am sure the distance will only make the relationship stronger.

I have just started my year abroad here in Singapore and I would definitely recommend this life-changing experience. It allows you to grow as a person, meet people from all around the world and create amazing memories.

Go Mavs!

By Aleena Raikundalia, BA International Business Management

management-school Hey everyone! Happy New Year!

A little flashback to last year… Christmas in Dallas is beautiful! The streets are full of pretty lights and decorations. Also, there are many Christmas Lights events and markets at malls such as Grapevine, Gallchristmas-spirit-at-the-libraryeria, Shops at Legacy and many more. As if that isn’t enough, there are extra shows, musicals, events and parties all over downtown! So, rest assured that there will be some sort of activity for everyone to be involved and get into the Christmas spirit!

Back to 2017… It has already been one month into the Spring Semester and I love my classes so far! Being an International Business major, I have the freedom to choose from a wide range of disciplines within the business field. This semester, I decided to take classes in Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing and Operations.

Since this is my last semester in Texas, I am looking forward to experiencing as many events as possible. Speaking of which, on Monday 30th January, my friends and I went to watch a NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was an incredible nba-stadiumexperience especially with the exciting atmosphere amongst the crowd, the speed of the game and most definitely the skill of each player. Final score: Dallas 104, Cleveland 97. Go Mavs! I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the game, and although Dallas won, I’ll be honest; watching LeBron James play, was spectacular in itself!

I’ll be sure to catch up with y’all soon with more updates!

IBM with an Industrial Placement

eliseBy Elise McDonald, BA International Business Management

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

Slightly weird post this time as I’m actually writing this from the UK nearing the end of my incredibly long Christmas/semester break. I am definitely so excited to be returning to Vienna next week.

Towards the end of last semester, I started applying for industrial placements to add in to my course before returning to Sheffield for myfinal year. The main reason I picked the IBM course at Sheffield was actually because it was the only University I could find that offered the opportunity to complete both a year abroad and a placement. I was so surprised to find out that I’ll be only the 2nd person on this course to do both, so I just thought I would share my experience of the application process with you all to encourage you to consider doing the same as me!

So, I started applying for placements towards the end of November which was fairly hard to manage with my final exams of the semester, but definitely doable. To be honest, most of the application deadlines weren’t until the end of December/January so it worked out perfectly with the holidays. If you’re worried you won’t be able to attend interview/assessment centres due to being abroad, don’t be! These days most of the application process is carried out online and I was therefore able to do telephone interviews and videos whilst in Vienna. Although, even if you do need to fly back, the company tends to pay for your travel expenses. Logistically, there have been no issues for me during this whole process (if anything the long holiday has been ideal!). Throughout the whole recruitment process I was able to talk about my experiences abroad, which was so helpful. Not only was I able to talk about my interest in international business, but also my ability to work in multicultural groups which is definitely a selling point.

Now comes the bragging… but I promise I’m only mentioning it to show you all how amazing the year abroad looks on your CV and application. I was lucky enough to be offered a Marketing placement at the FunileverMCG Giant Unilever. Some of you might be reading that with a blank expression, but I’m sure you’re all familiar with Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Lynx, Marmite, Persil, Domestos and PG Tips, to name a few! Well, Unilever owns all of those brands. I was also invited to the final stages for Microsoft, Hyundai, Bosch and Panasonic but was unable to accept these due to my place at Unilever. So, my advice to all of you considering doing IBM instead of another normal Business Management course – please do! Not only will you have the most amazing time but you’ll also make yourself much more employable.

I should also add that I also took the decision to work for a year in a junior office role before attending University and I also do some temporary office work in the summer holidays – I have been working at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles during my semester break. It’s therefore also a good idea to make the most of your time away from Uni to gain some valuable work experience. Don’t underestimate how important work experience is for a Business undergraduate’s CV.

Sorry to deviate away from the usual study abroad blog post, but I thought it might be something interesting to share with anyone that was considering a year in industry, like me.

I will keep you updated with how the next semester goes as much as possible!

 

Erasmus Society: Trip to Oktoberfest

LisandraBy Lissandra Radu

Before Christmas, the Erasmus society organised a trip to OKTOBERFEST! Keeping in mind that my only experience with beer is going to the pub’s beer garden, I had absolutely no expectation of what the day would be like. We left Vienna on the Thursday evening, taking a night party train to Munich where the festival takes places.

oktoberfestTip no. 1: Do NOT get *too* drunk on the train as you will have to nurse your hangover for 14 hours at a beer festival.

Tip no. 2: Invest in traditional dress, a dirndl for girls or lederhosen for boys, although I wore an adaptation of the male outfit. The whole dressing up process puts you in the mood for partying and you really feel as part of the event!

The festival itself can only be described as an adult Disneyland, where instead of princess houses you have massive beer tents where a band plays traditional German songs and people bang their 1 litre jugs of beer in tune. It was fantastic!

The first part of the day we spent in a tent where we had booked tables, drinking beer (or if you do not like beer, you can have a Radler which is essentially beer watered down with lemonade!) and eating chicken or pretzels. The second part we moved around different tents, each with a slightly different atmosphere, in search for a table that would fit all 15 of us. Turns out people actually book these tables a year in advance, so as you can guess, we did not have much luck but it was definitely a lot of fun.

14441164_1536376693045857_6861964166558489407_n (1)In hindsight, the trip was definitely a whole new experience and I am gutted I did not get to try the caramelised almonds, which are supposedly to die for. Personally, as I am not an avid admirer of beer, Oktoberfest might not be the ideal festival for me. However, having said that, it is a great place to have a lot fun with your friends and a very good excuse for day drinking J.